Wow! Conditions during the 2024 Vermont QSO were GREAT! Both 15 and 10 meters were open for long periods of time all afternoon, allowing stations to make several choices on what bands to be on. Stations from all over the U.S. and Canada were easily worked. And DX conditions were also very good, with many European stations in the log. Unfortunately, conditions on 80 and 160 meters were lackluster, but the great daytime conditions certainly made up for that.
There were 29 Vermont stations submitting logs, up slightly from last year. Another 45 Vermont stations were on the air, but did not submit logs, for a total of 74 Vermont stations active at one time or another. The winter weather was mild and we had a bumper crop of 4 rover stations combining to put 2354 QSO’s in the log from all 14 Vermont counties.
The great conditions bumped up
the phone QSO’s by 30% and the digital QSO’s by 22%. At the same time, CW QSO’s dropped by 32%, likely due to the increasing
popularity of the digital modes. Ultimately, 69% of Vermont stations used phone and a different 69% used digital while only 38% were on CW.
Four of the top five scores used all three modes. Operating on multiple bands and modes certainly paid off. The total of 15181 QSO’s
made by Vermont stations sets a new record.
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Top VT Stations
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Ron KK1L (Chittenden/FN34) eeked out the number 1 spot with 582k using low power. And he did all of this while not operating on Sunday! He used all three modes pretty much equally to run up a good point total and impressive multiplier total. Kevin KE1VT (Addison/FN34) was very close behind the top spot, with 558k for 2nd place. While he had more QSO’s and points, he was slightly down in multipliers on digital, and that was the difference. Joe K1VMT (Lamoile/FN34) returned to the Vermont QSO Party this year and put up a very impressive 473k for 3rd place. He was the QSO and multiplier leader, but did not get the low power multiplier that the top two stations claimed. Skip N1IBM (Windsor/FN33), continued this year with a great digital score as he ran up 912 QSO's for a score of 399k to take 4th place. Randy N1SP (Bennington/FN32) ran up 205k on all three modes using low power, but ran some big numbers on CW. from the southern end of Vermont for 5th place Stew KC1IFK (Chittenden/FN34) was another digital only entry with 543 QSOs for a score of 179k. He is moving to a new QTH and promises better antennas next time. . Zach K1ZK (Chittenden/FN34) was a multiop with one op as he ran two stations simultaneously for a score of 155k. Chris KI1P (Rover/FN34) put 5 northern Vermont counties on the air to the tune of 1369 phone and digital QSO’s and a score of 294k from his famous ham van. Darryl K1TTW (Rover/FN34) put 3 rare northeastern Vermont counties on the air for a score of 89k. Maz K1NZ (Rover) put ALL 14 Vermont counties on the air for a score of 24k using phone only. He also “activated” a few restaurants and brew pubs along the way! Mill K1IB (Rover) activated a few Central Vermont counties with CW only for a score of 20k. Finally, thanks to the crew of KC1KUW, KB1RVN and AA1SU who helped me churn out over 3200 QSO's and 280 multpliers at host station W1NVT. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All submitted logs were uploaded to the WA7BNM robot which does some basic checks to make sure that the log is in the correct Cabrillo format. The logs are then downloaded and run through a log checking program written by Ken Wolff K1EA who does much of the log checking for the larger ARRL and CQ contests.
This year however, there were many logs with problems. This stems from the increased activity on the digital modes and issues with logging software to properly handle these contacts.
Because digital modes FT8 and FT4 traditionally use grid squares instead of states, we have different rules for those contacts. These rules were clearly spelled out, but it bears repeating. If you make a phone or CW contact, you send and copy signal strength and state or province or country or Vermont county. All of this information must be copied and correctly logged to count as a valid contact. For digital (FT8 or FT4 contacts), you send and copy signal strength (in dB) and grid square, NOT state or county. This information must be logged correctly for the contact to count. For digital contacts, there is an exception that the copied grid square may be left off, since not everyone sends this information. In that case, points are awarded for the contact, but no multipliers are earned. Additionally, the proper Cabrillo abbreviation for digital is DG, not RY, which indicates RTTY.
Several logs with DG contacts containing the wrong information were sent back to participants for correction. Sadly, logs with many digital contacts showing no copied grid squares earned no multiplier credit.
A few logs had showed QSO information which was not copied, but instead looked up on line. All information MUST BE copied off the air. Using a database to complete the contact is NOT OK. We know where everyone is and can easily determine that a database is being used, so, please, DON'T DO IT. The logs were accepted this time, but in the future, there will be score adjustments made.
QSOs are compared between stations where logs exist. There has to be a match with callsign, location, frequency, mode and time (within 10 minutes).
When there is a discrepancy, that is considered a busted contact. If one station shows the contact, and the other does not,
it is called a Not In Log (NIL). In either case, the QSO is removed from the log of the station making the mistake. It is particularly
sad to see many contacts removed because someone forgot to enter the correct frequency or mode in their logging program.
Everyone should take care to get the easy things correct.!
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Top Outside of VT Stations
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Carl NX3A from Virginia repeats as our outside Vermont champion with an impressive 8708 points from 135 QSO's using low power. He had big QSO totals on all three modes for a nice finish. With his multiple top 3 finishes over the years, he sure has a stockpile of maple syrup saved up! Joel NF3R from Pennsylvania ends up as our number 2 finisher this year with 4704 points. He was tops in multipliers. It seemed like whenever I moved to another band or mode, NX3A and NF3R found me right away! Dave KA6BIM from Oregon takes 3rd place with 2484 points. This is very impressive as we have not had a top 3 finisher from the West Coast in a very long time. Great job! Mark WB9HFK from Illinois, a frequent top ten finisher, takes forth place with 2451 points. He ran up impressive totals on phone and CW, without any digital QSOs. Because our 3rd and 4th place finishers were so close (within 1 QSO) both will be awarded the maple syrup! Dave WN4AFP from South Carolina, a frequent top ten finisher, takes 5th place with 2081 points. Harry VE3HZX from Ontario, finished in 6th place with 2040 points using phone and CW. Duane KK4BZ from Virginia picks up the 7th spot with 1938 points using phone and FT8. Jeff N8II from West Virginia, a frequent top 10 finisher, takes 8th place with 1913 points. Anthony K8ZT had the highest QRP score of 832 points. |
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In the Vermont competition, certificates will go out to the top 5 single op finishers, top multi op finisher and top rover finisher. In addition, all Vermont stations making over 100 QSO’s will also get a certificate. In the Outside Vermont competition, the “grand prize” for the 2024 Vermont QSO Party is a souvenir 3.4 oz jug of genuine Vermont Maple Syrup which goes to the top 3 Outside Vermont finishers who are within the U.S. You guys worked hard for those contacts and we recognize you with a product which is uniquely Vermont. If you’ve never had Maple Syrup before, it is very sweet and very concentrated, so a little goes a long way! Here in Vermont it is the breakfast topping of choice on pancakes, waffles or whatever. Certificates will also go out to the top 10 stations outside Vermont and stations outside Vermont working 20 or more QSO’s. |
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We hope to work out the logging issues with the major software writers so that the Cabrillo files are properly generated. Participants will always have the ability to upload the digital ADIF file out of WSJTx separately, in addition to the CW/Phone Cabrillo log.
Any comments on the proposed changes? Any other changes which you think are warranted?
I noticed a plume of steam rising up from beneath the hood of my car, ending the mobile operation. (K1IB/M, Rover)
Miles driven: 576. Counties activated: 14. Breweries visited: 3. Ditches stuck in: 1! (K1NZ/M, Rover)
I didn't believe how FN44 was so hard to get. (K1TTW, Rover)
I was supposed to be away this weekend, but plans changed! (K1ZK)
I enjoy the building, setup and planning almost as much as operating. (KC1SFJ)
Five counties and five parks in my ex-NBC news van with a 50 ft mast holding 80-10 meter dipoles. (KI1P, Rover)
Managed to squeeze in a few hours of operating between child care duties. (N1GB)
Heavy wet snow encasing everything causing numerous problems. I only worked a couple of dozen contacts due to WX related issues. (N1JEZ)
My logging computer crashed right during my first pileup, so I had to catch it up from a paper log! (N1SP)
Thanks for having it. I didn't have much time this year. (KA0PQW)
My first VT QSO Party. I only operated for a few hours, but I had a great time. (KC1BDJ)
Thank you for the 2024 Vermont QSO Party. (KF3G)
My first VTQP! Fun! (KE4EA)
A very part-time effort on Friday evening. (KD9GY)
I didn't hear anybody after Friday night. (W8BZY)
Had a high noise floor at home, so only got 2 stations on SSB, but was able to catch 3 on FT8. (NN6U)
100 watts to dipoles up 45 to 60 ft. Thanks for the Q's! (KE0TT)
Icom IC-7300 and 134 ft OCF dipole wire antenna draped in trees 20-35 ft high. (KK4BZ)
Used two indoor fan dipoles and 80 watts. (K2MN)
100 watts to 3 element yagi at 10M (33ft) (SP6JOE)
10 watt mobile with an Atas-120. (VE3AC)
CQ'ed away for VTQP, but mostly had XE-RTTY QSOs. (W7VC)
Nice to see friends from Vermont this weekend, just sorry I didn't have more time. (W9TCV)
Busy weekend but worked Mitch! (WA2CNV)
Thanks everyone for another fun event. Now get out there and put up some bigger antennas!
We look forward to upcoming years of great participation.